Reputable Stores for UV Eye Protection?

[AntiProtonBoy]

I purchased a Convoy S2+ UV flash light, which has a very powerful Nichia UV LED, peaks at around 365 nm.

Had a brief play with it, but then I decided to put the play on hold until i get eye protection conforming to Australian standards.

Does anyone have recommendations for reputable stores that stock UV eye gear?

[NiHaoMike]

Get a pair of sunglasses that claims to block UV, then use a bit of fluorescent material to verify that it does block UV.

[jpanhalt]

Yellow hunting/shooting glasses will block UV without dimming other light much.  Sometimes they are sold as "driving" glasses as by blocking UV, other objects become more easily seen.

[Algoma]

Also need a bit of side protection if using indoors, incedential reflections from the side can be an issue, but more so with focused beams such as UV Lazers. 365nm Flashlights should be generally fine if the refelected beam isn't too bright. You would certainly want protection from incidentally viewing the emitter itself.

I bought a 12v Class 4 UV lazer from China for etching on my 3D printer. It proved FAR more powerful than descibed in the listing. It's curious how much energy can be emmited from palm sized solid state device. The basic glasses provided were vastly insuffeceint .. They were green tinted plastic at best, that you would get with a Class 2 Red laser level.

[chukin]

AntiProtonBoy, I wouldn't piss about with sunglasses or anything half-arsed. I can recommend laser goggles from Edmund Scientific in the US and Thor Labs in Europe, you should be able to find a pair that suit both wavelength and energy level. They cost around $100 in Europe, worth the price if you ask me.

If you use inadequate UV protection you might not notice anything immediately, but you could get snow-blindness after some time. Basically sunburn of the cornea. I had it as a student using mercury vapour lamps and it was not very pleasant.

I'd be careful if I were you!

[Zero999]

Don't bother with eye protection, just don't look directly at the beam, from less than 2m away.

[AntiProtonBoy]

Get a pair of sunglasses that claims to block UV, then use a bit of fluorescent material to verify that it does block UV.

I have a pair of prescription sunnies, and they seem to block UV really well. However, they are not convenient to use and don't cover peripheral vision as well as dedicated safety glasses do.

AntiProtonBoy, I wouldn't piss about with sunglasses or anything half-arsed. I can recommend laser goggles from Edmund Scientific in the US and Thor Labs in Europe, you should be able to find a pair that suit both wavelength and energy level. They cost around $100 in Europe, worth the price if you ask me.

If you use inadequate UV protection you might not notice anything immediately, but you could get snow-blindness after some time. Basically sunburn of the cornea. I had it as a student using mercury vapour lamps and it was not very pleasant.

I'd be careful if I were you!

Cheers, precisely the kind of info I needed.

Don't bother with eye protection, just don't look directly at the beam, from less than 2m away.

Sorry, but this is a completely reckless and irresponsible advice to give here. These Nichia LEDs have a radiant flux around 1000 mW! Specular reflections from glass, tiles, mirrors and metals will put your eyes in immediate danger. And since UV is predominantly invisible to the eye, the photopupillary reflex will not engage at all, and consequently the retina will get a lot of UV exposure. Permanent eye conditions, such as cataracts and macular degeneration is linked with excessive UV exposure. When it comes to your vision, please don't fuck around.

[Zero999]

Sorry, but this is a completely reckless and irresponsible advice to give here. These Nichia LEDs have a radiant flux around 1000 mW! Specular reflections from glass, tiles, mirrors and metals will put your eyes in immediate danger. And since UV is predominantly invisible to the eye, the photopupillary reflex will not engage at all, and consequently the retina will get a lot of UV exposure. Permanent eye conditions, such as cataracts and macular degeneration is linked with excessive UV exposure. When it comes to your vision, please don't fuck around.

That power level is only dangerous if it's a tightly focused beam and you're staring straight at it, from a close distance.

I had concerns about using the Luminus SBM-120-UV at work, which can output 10W of flux. It's so powerful it can burn paper, held around 1cm away from it. The optical and laser safety engineer did some exposure calculations and said, it's within safe limits, as long as you're over 1.5m away. It did seem a bit counterintuitive, but it's inverse square law at play. Admittedly the LED I'm using has a longer peak wavelength of 395nm, which is safer, but as I say, that's more than made up for by the fact it's 10 times as powerful. At a distance of 1.5m, the amount of radiation I'm exposed to is tiny, less than that of sunlight on a bright summer's day.

[Watth]

Meh, nothing's safer than safety squints.
Anyway, I'd advise you to have a look at the manufacturer's website, most have Australian versions that should show accordances to Australian norms.
For example,
Bollé https://www.bollesafety.com.au/
Uvex: https://www.uvex-safety.com.au/en/
Bollé https://www.bollesafety.com.au/
Honeywell https://sps.honeywell.com/au/en/products/safety/head-eye-and-face-protection
(etc.)

[Zero999]

Sorry, but this is a completely reckless and irresponsible advice to give here. These Nichia LEDs have a radiant flux around 1000 mW! Specular reflections from glass, tiles, mirrors and metals will put your eyes in immediate danger. And since UV is predominantly invisible to the eye, the photopupillary reflex will not engage at all, and consequently the retina will get a lot of UV exposure. Permanent eye conditions, such as cataracts and macular degeneration is linked with excessive UV exposure. When it comes to your vision, please don't fuck around.

That power level is only dangerous if it's a tightly focused beam and you're staring straight at it, from a close distance.

I had concerns about using the Luminus SBM-120-UV at work, which can output 10W of flux. It's so powerful it can burn paper, held around 1cm away from it. The optical and laser safety engineer did some exposure calculations and said, it's within safe limits, as long as you're over 1.5m away. It did seem a bit counterintuitive, but it's inverse square law at play. Admittedly the LED I'm using has a longer peak wavelength of 395nm, which is safer, but as I say, that's more than made up for by the fact it's 10 times as powerful. At a distance of 1.5m, the amount of radiation I'm exposed to is tiny, less than that of sunlight on a bright summer's day.

Thinking about this again.
The UV torch probably has a narrower beam than the power LED I used, which could mean that a direct hit, from 2m, would expose you to more radiation. I still stand by my previous statement: as long as you're not looking directly at the beam, you'll be safe. The only reflection which will pose a hazard is a mirror, from a close distance. Don't worry about diffuse reflections, which scatter the light in many directions.

If in doubt wear sunglasses, but don't worry about it too much. To put it into perspective, you get 478mW/(nm m²) at 325nm, increasing towards 1W/(nm m²) at 400nmm, from bright sunlight. Averaging the two figures, gives roughly (1+0.478)/2*75 = 55W/m² of UV from 325nm to 400nm. If your torch beam spreads over an area of >13.5cm², the power per m², will be less than of bright sunlight. Don't panic if you get exposed to more than this. As long as it's a brief exposure and you're not staring at it, you'll be fine. The pupil being dilated is a non-issue. Your retina won't get hit by that much UV, because a lot of it is absorbed by the cornea. That doesn't mean it's safe to stare into the beam, as the cornea can be damaged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_index

[G7PSK]

Plain glass stops UVB and UVC along with most of UVA, most welding suppliers will sell safety glasses that stop all UV for people working in areas where welding is taking place, that would be the first place I would try. I am not talking here about welding goggles or helmets just clear safety glasses.

[Algoma]

Is this the product we're discssing?

Convoy S2 + UV 365nm
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001652735866.html

... I think we're discussing protection for WAY above it's risk rating. UV protection is always good, but its only a 2W LED flashlight here.

[Zero999]

Plain glass is quite transparent to UVA above 350nm, which is why it's used for blacklight tubes. Some plastics are better absorbers.

I agree eye protection never does any harm, even though this is fairly low risk.

[Paul B]

Hi during my life i have worked with a number of different UV sources
from a simple UV recorder to UV lamps for water disinfectant
and yes in my youth i was aware of the therm called arc eyes  from looking at ark welding so i was always Caucasus with ark welding and had protection
but it was a UV chart recorder that got me as working with it setting up the optics i gave myself a sun tan and UV blindness that took 3 days to recover   
when working with powerful UV lamps i organised UV Glass  and i asked the supply about the yellow tint on the glasses and was told by the suppler that plastic lenses attenuate UV
the plain plastic lenses wear just as good but customers preferred the ones tinted yellow as to distinguish between them and safety glasses

but please test them using your UV source and a UV meter as I totally agree with an earlier posting do not mess around with UV it will take both of your eyes at the same time
regards Paul     

[AntiProtonBoy]

but its only a 2W LED flashlight here.

It's not just "only a 2W LED flashlight", it emits 1000 mW radiant flux in the 365 nm UV spectrum, with a beam spread around 3 to 5 degrees. I put my hand in the way I can feel heating effects on the skin. Part of that is undoubtedly is caused by IR, but a much of that is cased by UV absorption. Incidentally, IR eye protection is another thing to consider as well when working with unusual light sources like these (the UV band pass filter I attached to the torch is also transparent to IR).

[Algoma]

I figured you were dealing with something more like this. https://www.krackeler.com/catalog/product/4630/Blak-Ray-174-B-100-Series-High-Intensity-UV-Lamps

and these only reach 8,900 µW/cm2 at 25cm distance.  (8.9mW/cm2) with a 100Watt source

Some light reading on the  Australian Government Occupational Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation:
https://www.arpansa.gov.au/sites/default/files/legacy/pubs/rps/rps12.pdf

https://www.attar.com.au/occupational-exposure-to-black-light-ndt/ has a good summary of the document. That above lamp would have a 20 second unprotected eye exposure limit.  Your LED in question looks to be within the 15 minute exposure limits for unprotected use up close.


Datasheet for the LED in your light: (See Page 18 for Classification and Page 21 for recommended protective glasses specifications)
https://led-ld.nichia.co.jp/api/data/spec/led/NCSU276CT-E(5581B)U365x.pdf

Also See:
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON NON-IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTION
(ICNIRP)GUIDELINES ON LIMITS OF EXPOSURE TO ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION OF WAVELENGTHS BETWEEN 180 nm AND 400 nm
https://www.icnirp.org/cms/upload/publications/ICNIRPUV2004.pdf

[Zero999]

I figured you were dealing with something more like this. https://www.krackeler.com/catalog/product/4630/Blak-Ray-174-B-100-Series-High-Intensity-UV-Lamps

and these only reach 8,900 µW/cm2 at 25cm distance.  (8.9mW/cm2) with a 100Watt source

Some light reading on the  Australian Government Occupational Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation:
https://www.arpansa.gov.au/sites/default/files/legacy/pubs/rps/rps12.pdf

https://www.attar.com.au/occupational-exposure-to-black-light-ndt/ has a good summary of the document. That above lamp would have a 20 second unprotected eye exposure limit.  Your LED in question looks to be within the 15 minute exposure limits for unprotected use up close.


Datasheet for the LED in your light: (See Page 18 for Classification and Page 21 for recommended protective glasses specifications)
https://led-ld.nichia.co.jp/api/data/spec/led/NCSU276CT-E(5581B)U365x.pdf

Also See:
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON NON-IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTION
(ICNIRP)GUIDELINES ON LIMITS OF EXPOSURE TO ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION OF WAVELENGTHS BETWEEN 180 nm AND 400 nm
https://www.icnirp.org/cms/upload/publications/ICNIRPUV2004.pdf

I agree. Here's a data sheet for the LED I've used at work, prototyping a new UV system of a fluorescence application. The one I was using outputs 15.6W (not 10W, I was mistaken earlier) of flux around 395nm. It set fire to a piece of paper placed around 1cm away from it. I do wear UV safety glasses, when I'm very close to it, but I've been told it's safe for passers by not to wear any protective eyeware, as long as I have it pointing towards the wall.

https://download.luminus.com/datasheets/Luminus_SBM-120-UV_Datasheet.pdf

but its only a 2W LED flashlight here.

It's not just "only a 2W LED flashlight", it emits 1000 mW radiant flux in the 365 nm UV spectrum, with a beam spread around 3 to 5 degrees. I put my hand in the way I can feel heating effects on the skin. Part of that is undoubtedly is caused by IR, but a much of that is cased by UV absorption. Incidentally, IR eye protection is another thing to consider as well when working with unusual light sources like these (the UV band pass filter I attached to the torch is also transparent to IR).

Which is bugger all really. 365nm has similar properties to visible light and is only a bit more dangerous than visible deep violet. You get a higher dose of UV on a hot summer's day, long before you start to burn.

Don't stare at the beam too closely, wear sunglasses if you're really worried and relax.